"Stow that, my lad! It's no good trying to catch this bird with salt. How did you come to know that my name was James Southam?"
"I never did know it. The simple truth is that that name happened to be mine."
"What's that?"
"I say that that name happens to be mine--I am James Southam."
Bending down he glared at me with eyes which seemed to glow like burning coal.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean precisely what I say. If you choose to examine the contents of my pockets--they are at your mercy--you will find ample proof of the truth of what I say. Besides, I take it that you have had truth of this proof from the contents of the papers."
"The contents of the papers--what papers?"
I looked at him to see if his seeming ignorance of what I meant was real. It appeared to be.
"You and I, Mr. Southam, or Mr. Barnes, or whatever your name is, have been, and it would seem still are, at cross purposes. I take no more interest in your affairs than you take in mine--perhaps not so much. The mention of my name seems to have awoke uncomfortable echoes in your breast, which fact is of the nature of an odd coincidence."